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 Do Have-Nots Have It Better Than Haves?
By Eric Grevstad -
Published January 27, 2006
Shopping for a new PC? HardwareCentral editor Eric just did, and the gulf between high and low prices has him wondering: As terrific as new technology is, what's the point at which terrificness gets trumped by bargains? Are mail-in rebates real savings or Satan's red tape? And why is he barred from entering Best Buy stores? [more Opinions]
Platform Trends: Nvidia Puts the 'V' Back in Value
By Vince Freeman -
Published January 22, 2006
Entry-level PC shoppers are used to seeing older, discounted components instead of cutting-edge technology, but delighted to find new, more future-proof products created just for them. Now Nvidia Corp.'s deluxe GeForce 7 and SLI architectures have jumped from the top to the bottom of the desktop market and from mostly-for-AMD to full-Intel-support status. Can you say "retail stampede"? [more Chips & Upgrades]
WinBook A215 Review
By Eric Grevstad -
Published January 19, 2006
The WinBook brand has long been known for value-priced laptop PCs, but what can the company do now that famous retail labels have slashed their most frugal notebooks (usually via mail-in rebates) to $500 or $600? This AMD Turion 64 portable answers the question -- at $800, it's a step up from rock bottom, but that price gets you goodies like a wide-aspect-ratio screen and DVD±RW drive. [more Computers]
The Nontraditional Experience: Report from CES 2006
By Eric Grevstad -
Published January 16, 2006
The only thing worse than the taxi lines at this month's Consumer Electronics Show was the collision of rival HD DVD and Blu-ray standards for next-generation DVDs. But HwC's editor braved the Las Vegas crowds to find nifty new products ranging from dual-core notebooks and narrow-gauge broadband to ever-smarter USB flash drives and hand-built, hotter-than-hot-rod gaming PCs. [more Chips & Upgrades]
Platform Trends: Intel Burns the Candle at Both Ends
By Vince Freeman -
Published January 7, 2006
Intel Corp. struts its 65-nanometer stuff and brings dual-core processing to the notebook as well as the desktop market. CPU guru Vince Freeman says it's a formidable assault on AMD, but wonders whether cool-running Core Duo desktops will upstage the musclebound Pentium D and Extreme Edition.
[more Chips & Upgrades]
Intel CEO Otellini Unveils Centrino Duo and Viiv At CES
By Eric Grevstad -
Published January 5, 2006
Intel showed it could be a platform, not just processor, powerhouse with its Centrino notebook bundle. Now it plans to usher in not only a new generation of more powerful yet power-saving laptops, but a whole new world of on-demand entertainment, as CEO Paul Otellini revealed in a Consumer Electronics Show keynote.
[more Chips & Upgrades]
Lenovo ThinkPad Z60T Review
By Joseph Moran -
Published January 5, 2006
Sony and Cingular may have been first to add wireless wide-area networking to wireless LAN connections, but Lenovo's newest ThinkPad raises the ante with Verizon's quicker EV-DO data service. The 5-pound Pentium M portable packs plenty of other impressive features as well, but SmallBusinessComputing.com's Joe Moran says it's no cheap date.
[more Computers]
The Best, the Worst, and the Ugliest: 2005
By Eric Grevstad -
Published December 27, 2005
A trumpet to blow in one hand? Check. Tomatoes to throw in the other? Check. It must be time for HardwareCentral's fifth annual festival of finger-pointing, hailing the winners and taunting the losers of the year in PCs and peripherals. This year our fearless editor has his sights on Media Center PCs, too many CPU debuts, contemptible copy protection, and the most boring competition in high tech. [more Opinions]
Platform Trends: You Say Centrino, AMD Says Yamato
By Vince Freeman -
Published December 26, 2005
Since March 2003, Intel has told notebook shoppers -- and manufacturers -- to look for the Centrino label, with a CPU, chipset, and wireless bundle that promises great performance and battery life. Now AMD has unveiled its own laptop reference design using a dual-core Turion 64 processor. Can it compete with Intel's upcoming "Yonah"?
[more Chips & Upgrades]
Sony Vaio VA10G Review
By Eric Grevstad -
Published December 23, 2005
Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition is a living-room-come-lately compared to Sony's history of cutting-edge PC/TV combinations. Now the home-electronics titan has combined Microsoft's software with some of Intel's and ATI's best hardware and a gorgeous 20-inch widescreen LCD TV -- and made a $2,000 price tag feel like a bargain. [more Computers]
Samsung SyncMaster 970P Review
By Eric Grevstad -
Published December 14, 2005
Now that 19-inch LCD monitors are mainstream choices, how does Samsung's newest get your attention? By doing backflips: This sleekly styled $549 flat panel has a triple-hinged stand for every swivel, tilt, pivot, and height adjustment you can imagine. And the control buttons on the front bezel? There aren't any. [more Peripherals]
Platform Trends: Mobile Graphics Heat Up
By Vince Freeman -
Published December 9, 2005
It used to take a year or more for one of Nvidia's or ATI's high-performance graphics processors to migrate from the desktop to the notebook market. But now portable 3D accelerators are appearing faster than ever -- none more spectacularly than Nvidia's GeForce Go 7800 GTX. Are Intel's Centrino and other integrated-chipset solutions on their way out? [more Chips & Upgrades]
Sony Vaio TX670P Review
By Eric Grevstad -
Published December 8, 2005
After introducing the 3.1-pound Vaio T and its nifty Cingular wireless e-mail and Internet access as well as the usual WiFi and Ethernet, what can Sony do for an encore? Whittle the Pentium M subnotebook down to 2.8 pounds with a larger widescreen display, that's what. Can you resist it? Can you afford it? Can you pry open its DVD±RW drive? [more Computers]
Sharp WideNote M4000 Review
By Eric Grevstad -
Published December 2, 2005
You've seen desktop-replacement notebooks with bright, wide screens and desktop-sized, comfortable keyboards -- but most of them are eight- or nine-pound bruisers with battery life too brief for a DVD movie. Sharp's new contender weighs in at just 3.7 pounds, with battery life that equals, a screen and keyboard that surpass, and a price that undercuts most subnotebooks. [more Computers]
Platform Trends: AMD's Processor Plans for 2006
By Vince Freeman -
Published November 27, 2005
Intel and AMD have been singing "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" for some time, but the rival chipmakers' duet will get even louder in 2006: Whether it's DDR-2 memory support, dual-core mobile processing, or enterprise server virtualization, AMD's latest roadmap marks a route toward head-on collision. [more Chips & Upgrades]
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